In a liquid crystal cell produced by sealing a liquid crystal between film substrates, there can occur cases where gas infiltrates into the sealed liquid crystal, forming gas bubbles therein.
To address this, it is known to apply an epoxy adhesive as a gas barrier layer around an end portion of the liquid crystal cell, thereby preventing gas from infiltrating into the liquid crystal cell from the end portion thereof (for example, patent document 1). However, with an organic material such as an epoxy adhesive, it is not possible to completely prevent the infiltration of gas, and there can still occur cases where gas bubbles are formed in the liquid crystal cell due to the infiltration of gas.
On the other hand, in a device constructed by sandwiching between two substrates a thin film formed from a light-emitting material that exhibits electroluminescence (EL), it is known to form a DLC (diamond-like carbon) film as a gas barrier layer around an end face of the device in order to prevent the infiltration of vapor (for example, patent document 2).
Further, as one example of a conventional method for forming a thin film on a substrate, it is known to provide a method that performs film deposition, for example, by stacking a plurality of substrates vertically one above another on a substrate holder (for example, patent document 3).
Patent document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-221998 (FIG. 2)
Patent document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-151253 (FIG. 1)
Patent document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09-167763